Unique ID project 'Aadhaar' launched

The world's first ID project where biometric data is used to provide unique identification numbers for India's billion-plus citizens rolled out on Wednesday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi handing over the first set of 12-digit numbers to 10 tribals.

The country's most tech savvy initiative called 'Aadhaar'(base) to provide the unqiue ID cards was hailed by Singh and Gandhi aat the launch function as a "historic step" to provide identity to every Indian citizen and make delivery processes transparent. Biometric-based data including from fingerprints and an iris scan is being used for the first time anywhere in the world to provide a cost-effective nationally valid and verifiable single source of identity proof through an authentification infrastructure.